By Joyce Ann Rocamora | Philippine News Agency
The Philippine government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), on Tuesday praised several countries for recognizing the State of Palestine in a high-level international conference in New York City.
“The Philippines welcomes the recognition by France, Portugal, Australia, Monaco, Canada, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Andorra of the State of Palestine at the High-Level Int’l Conference in New York City, where states are speaking in solidarity for stopping war and suffering in Gaza,” the DFA said in a post on X.
“The Philippines has always stood for a two-state solution as the only viable path to peace in the Middle East,” it added.
The United Nations (UN) resumed the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, on Sept. 22.
Earlier this month, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution endorsing the New York Declaration— a document issued at the end of the initial high-level summit in July, backing the implementation of the two-state solution to the Palestine-Israel question.
Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former Foreign Affairs chief Enrique Manalo represented the country in the September conference, joined by DFA Assistant Secretary Maria Teresa Almojuela.
Ahead of the gathering, Australia, Canada, and the UK formally recognized an “independent and sovereign State of Palestine.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the move is part of an international effort to “build new momentum for a two-state solution, starting with a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages taken in the atrocities of October 7, 2023.” (PNA)
